Saint Helena Island in Beaufort County, South Carolina — The American South (South Atlantic)

Dawn of a Revolution: The Penn School

— Reconstruction Era National Historical Park —

Photographed by Benjamin Rubin, May 30, 2026

1. Dawn of a Revolution: The Penn School Marker

Inscription. Prior to the Civil War, it was a crime in South Carolina to teach Black people to read. In the Spring of 1862, northern missionaries, most notably Laura Towne, Ellen Murray, and Charlotte Forten, came to St. Helena Island and launched a revolution—they established the Penn School. Here at the Penn Center National Historic Landmark District, you can walk among the trees and buildings where countless lives were changed through education.

(captions)
Near the end of the Civil War, classes moved from Brick Baptist Church to this wooden building, which was located at the present day site of the Frissell Community House. This Reconstruction era school building was taken apart around 1900, and the lumber used to build homes for area residents.

Beginning in 1948, Penn School's mission changed, and the site became a civil rights institute focused on community education. One hundred years after the school was established, leaders of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference came to Penn Center to coordinate the growing Civil Rights Movement. Photo from the Penn Center Collections.

Erected by National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: African Americans

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• Civil Rights • Education • War, US Civil • Women. A significant historical year for this entry is 1862.

Location. 32° 23.258′ N, 80° 34.645′ W. Marker is on Saint Helena Island, South Carolina, in Beaufort County. It can be reached from Penn Center Circle East 0.7 miles south of Sea Island Parkway (U.S. 21), on the right when traveling south. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 16 Penn Center Cir E, Saint Helena Island SC 29920, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the Lowcountry

and on the Sea Islands.

It is also in the American South

and specifically in the Deep South.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the original Thirteen Colonies,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 5 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Penn School (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); The Great Sea Island Storm (about 300 feet away); In Honor Of Edith M. Dabbs and James McBride Dabbs (about 300 feet away); A Relic of Reconstruction: Darrah Hall (about 400 feet away); Trailblazers at Penn Center National Historic Landmark District (approx. 0.2 miles away); Water — A Way Home, A Way of Life (approx. 0.2 miles away); Chapel of Ease (approx. 0.8 miles away); Lady's Island Oyster Factory (approx. 4.8 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Saint Helena Island.

Also see . . .
1. Reconstruction Era National Historical Park

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. National Park Service (Submitted on June 11, 2026.)

2. Penn Center. The first school in the South for formerly enslaved West Africans. (Submitted on June 11, 2026.)

Credits. This page was last revised on June 11, 2026. It was originally submitted on May 31, 2026, by Benjamin Rubin of Columbia, South Carolina. This page has been viewed 12 times since then. Photo 1. submitted on May 31, 2026, by Benjamin Rubin of Columbia, South Carolina. • Bernard Fisher was the editor who published this page.

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